Photo: Rebecca Contois, Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marcedes Myran.

Last week, Winnipeg Police announced that four Indigenous women – Rebecca Contois (24 years old), Morgan Beatrice Harris (39), Marcedes Myran (26) and an unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) – had been killed. The suspect in these crimes has expressed anti-Indigenous views online.

CTV reports: “The Winnipeg Police Service believes the remains of two victims [Morgan Beatrice Harris and Marcedes Myran] of an alleged serial killer are in a landfill north of the city but say the recovery of their bodies is likely impossible.”

The article adds: “[Rebecca] Contois’ partial remains were discovered this summer in the Brady Landfill in Winnipeg.”

Cambria Harris, daughter of Morgan Harris, says: “Let’s pay [my Mother] the respect that she deserves by finally giving her one that’s not a resting place at the Prairie Green Landfill, and for the other women as well.”

Cambria further commented: “The police are trying to cover themselves because they know that they fail our women time and time again – and it needs to stop. Your government started this genocide and now it’s your turn to help us end it.”

And daughter Kera Harris says: “We have the people who are willing to help and do the work for you, but you are not accepting that. And if you won’t look for them, we will.”

Journalist Brandi Morin has also challenged the Winnipeg Police on the search for the bodies.

Morin says: “Don’t say it isn’t feasible. Don’t say the feds don’t have resources. Cause they sure come up w the resources in a hurry when they send their armies of police in 2 sovereign Indigenous lands like the Wet’suwet’en to restrain them from protecting their territories from a pipeline.”

Member of Parliament Leah Gazan says: “The loss of our four precious sisters is part of what the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and the Prime Minister himself, have characterized as an ongoing genocide.”

The National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls determined that “state actions and inactions rooted in colonialism and colonial ideologies” are in part responsible for the thousands of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada that the report names as genocide.

Gazan also notes: “The Liberal government must provide immediate funding and resources to stop this injustice, and protect Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.”

And she highlighted: “This is an emergency, and a human rights crisis. Survivors, advocates and community leaders are counting on the federal government to act urgently to deliver the funding and necessary resources to stop this genocide.”

Peace Brigades International-Canada supports the call for the genocide to stop and for the resources to be provided for the remains of the women to be found.

PBI has accompanied the search for the remains of the murdered and missing. In Mexico, we accompany the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre as they search to locate remains in Ciudad Juárez. In Colombia, we accompany the Movement of Victims of State Crime and the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation who support a Comprehensive Bill on the Rights of Women Seekers of the Disappeared. And in Guatemala, we have accompanied the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala as they work to identify the remains of people who have been forcibly disappeared.

We recognize that these searches and recovery of remains of those disappeared and murdered are essential for truth, memory and non-repetition.

Emelia Fournier tweeted this video of Indigenous land defenders chanting “Trudeau is a colonizer” and interrupting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s address at the opening of the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal.

The banner that they are holding says: “Indigenous Genocide = Ecocide. To Save Biodiversity Stop Invading Our Lands. Colonialism Can’t Save You.”

Ali Wines tweeted this video.

Greenpeace Canada tweeted this video.

Jack Graham tweeted this video as the youth left the hall.

And Charlotte Dawe tweeted this video of security attempting to debadge the Indigenous land defenders as the walked out of the building.

Updates

Ashley Torres tweeted this video with the text: “After leaving the @Palais_Montreal, indigenous youth delegates were surrounded by police @SPVM who told them that they were under arrest for no reason. They were simply walking on the sidewalk with their regalia after staging a peaceful protest inside the UN events.”

And in her article Another U.N. conference on biodiversity opens with more promises to save the environment, Emelia Fournier writes:

“Two of the demonstrators, Ta’Kaiya Blaney of the Tla’amin First Nation and Ace Harry of the Xwe’malhkwu Nation, a sister nation to Tla’min spoke with APTN News prior to the opening ceremonies. They said they are attending to address the industrial extraction happening on their territories in western British Colombia, where forestry and hydro dams have damaged their lands.

“A hundred years ago [the Tis’kwat River] was dammed by Catalyst Paper, and now that mill is shut down and on the market and our generation is trying to mobilize and take this opportunity to push for dam removal and for the restoration of that river to bring back the salmon,” said Blaney.

“I’m not here to fight for recognition, I’m here to fight for sovereignty, and that is different. I’m not asking the United Nations or Canada to recognize our nation as, in all of our belonging and our rights, I’m asking them to stop invading us.

“What we are interested in is the return of our salmon, food security for our people, and historically, ever since settlers arrived on our lands, they have not taken care of us. We have not been a priority. And so really the only path forward in our eyes is taking care of our people ourselves, and what that looks like is the return of our lands, and control of our rivers,” said Harry.”

The full article by Fournier can be read here.

Ta’Kaiya Blaney, left, and Ace Harry say they want Indigenous sovereignty respected. Photo: Emelia Fournier/APTN.

Blaney has also posted that she is at COP15 with “a delegation of Indigenous youth from Tla’amin, Xwemalhkwu, Musqueam, Gitxsan, Huu-ay-aht, and Nak’azdli Nations.”

They will be speaking at this event.

We continue to follow this and will add more text as those who participated in this action make further statements and comments.

We will be following via social media the two trials this month of eight Indigenous water protectors and allies who were arrested in October 2020.

Those arrested on October 15, 2020, at a water ceremony, are scheduled to be on trial starting today, December 5, while those arrested on October 17, 2020, at a women’s haircutting ceremony, are expected to be on trial from December 12-16.

As noted below, “The prosecution is seeking 14-28 days in jail.”

As posted on Facebook via We, the Secwepemc: Virtual Unity Camp to stop Transmountain Pipeline:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

With No Proof of Deed or Jurisdiction: Canadian TMX Pipeline Attempts to Incarcerate Indigenous Mothers and Allies as First Day of Trial Begins

On Monday, December 5th, Indigenous water protectors and allies will be forced to appear in court as the first of two trials concerning the Canadian TMX pipeline begins tomorrow. It’s been over 2 years since Secwepemc Hereditary leaders and allies witnessing active acts of genocide were violently arrested while in ceremony on unceded Secwepemc Territory.

Despite having no clear jurisdiction in Secwepemc Nation, RCMP attended a Water Ceremony on October 15th 2020 at the Thompson River and immediately began threatening arrest without making any attendees aware of the injunction. Hereditary Chief Saw-ses attempted to exit the arrest zone and was forced by RCMP officers to stay. He was arrested despite his Elder Hereditary status and heart condition, denied medication and released without notification to his family late at night in downtown Kamloops. Billie Pierre, a Nlaka’pamux mother was sexually assaulted while in ceremony on the same day by a group of all male officers. On October 17th, Miranda Dick, Heather Lameroux, Laura Zadorozny and Susan Bibbings were violently arrested while conducting a Woman’s Hair Cutting Ceremony before sunrise by a team of all male RCMP officers.

Miranda Dick. Photo by Kelsie Kilawna/IndigiNews.

There are a number of legal issues with the trial:

1. The amount of time passed between arrest and trial is already well over the Canadian legal limit for unreasonable delay.
2. The trial is taking place in provincial courts despite there being no treaties granting their jurisdiction in Secwepemc Nation and having no deed to the land.
3. A Nation to Nation relationship already exists with the federal government who has also bought the pipeline which prima facie, is a conflict of interest while the Canadian Federal Government still holds land and resources in trust for Indigenous People.
4. The court can’t conclusively decide whether the charges are civil or criminal even as trial goes ahead.
5. Indigenous title is held collectively by the People of the Nation and includes all traditional territory. The court relies on agreements signed between elected Chief and Councils formed by the Indian Act and the federally owned TMX pipeline, agreements that only apply to reserve land and not the territory at large.
6. Hereditary Chief Saw-ses attempted to exit the qualified injunction zone and was forced by RCMP to stay and be arrested despite his Elder Hereditary status and heart condition, he was denied medication and released without notification to his family late at night in downtown Kamloops.
7. Judge Fitzpatrick has already admitted that there has been a violent difference between arrests of Indigenous People and non-Indigenous People.

The Secwepemc Nation has not been consulted and has never given consent for the Canadian Federal Government’s Transmountain Pipeline to proceed and cross waterways, endangering future generations protected by Secwepemc Law. The Shuswap-Okanagan Confederacy is a law older than Canada and signed between two sovereign allied nations, the Secwepemc and the Okanagan and clearly states that the land and the water belongs to the future and can never be signed away, ceded, surrendered or sold.

Canada’s TMX pipeline has violated Secwepemc Law at every turn, building man camps that are actively endangering Secwepemc women, endangering clean water, damaging and destroying pit house sites and other heritage sites, laying plastic matting to deter salmon from their own spawning streams and more. The onus falls to Canada now to prove they have any jurisdiction to build a pipeline through another sovereign Nation, something this country has been unable to do since its inception.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Miranda Dick   236 586 5182

April Thomas   778 267 6619

Anushka Azadi  403 999 9220

“So I am just one person but I am speaking for all Secwepemc Nation. It’s not just me. I have 22,000 people that I am speaking for, on behalf of them. Because not everyone is for the pipeline. We know DIA (Department of Indian Affairs) Chiefs have signed deal with them but there is no consent from the people from the elders or the children. The DIA chiefs don’t have the authority to sign over the land, the air, the water, the people the don’t have the authority to sign those over. So we’re standing here today as Secwepemc people for our rights and our title of our land. Because this is unceded Secwepemc Territory and here we are on unceded Coast Salish Territory, and we have to recognize that. Because we didn’t sign treaties here. All of BC doesn’t have treaties. So I am standing here as a Secwepemc mother, as a land defender, as a water protector and thank you all so much for being here. It means a lot. Sometimes it feels like we are all alone but standing here today I feel really powerful. I have a lot of support here, a lot of family, so Kukstemc thank you.” – Gwa T’selletkwe

And as posted on gofundme at Protect Sqeq’petsin Stop TMX – Trial Support:

We are asking for support for our continued court proceedings that have dragged on for two years after our arrests on October 15 and 17th 2020. Our next trial dates are Oct 3-7th and Dec 12-16th 2022.

The support will cover gas, food and lawyer consultation. We are extremely grateful for the support that we have received to date. We have had over 15 court dates in the past two years, six adjournments and have presented a stay of charges application which was denied. This has left us in need of more funds to prepare our defenses and travel to and from court.

USE OF FUNDS:

GAS

6 vehicles @ 300 = 1800/week x 2 weeks = $3600

FOOD

600/meals each week x 2 weals = $1200

LAWYER CONSULTATION

$5000

CONTEXT

The eight water defenders arrested on Oct 15 and 17 at the TMX drill sites are being charged with criminal contempt of court for breeching a colonial injunction with no jurisdiction on unceded Indigenous land. The prosecution is seeking 14-28 days in jail.

April Thomas and Miranda Dick have demanded a third party adjudication to ensure that the colonial government was not infringing upon the rights of the land defenders. This demand was made on the grounds of the colonial government purchase of the TMX pipeline expansion project. This is a direct conflict of interest as the crown acts as judge and prosecution.

Kukstemc to those in advance for supporting. Your witness, prayers, art and time are seen, appreciated and keep us strong. We have defeated projects like these before. Together we can do it again.

SUMMARY OF OUR TRIAL TO DATE

Oct 15 and 17, 2020: Eight arrests in Kamloops

Jan 20, 2021: First in person Court Appearance – Vancouver

Mar 1, 2021: Second Court Appearance – Vancouver

April Thomas and Miranda Dick demanded a third party adjudication to ensure that the rights of the land defenders were not being infringed upon by the colonial government. This demand was made on the grounds of the colonial government’s purchase of the TMX pipeline expansion project. This is a direct conflict of interest as the crown acts as judge and prosecution. Crown decides the charges are criminal contempt of court.

Mar 15, 2021: Third Court Appearance – Kamloops

Trial Dates were set for a trial in Kamloops

July 30, 2021: Call in for adjournment due to fires and lack of disclosure

August 3-13th: First two trial dates that were adjourned

October 2021: Disclosure is received in spite of the document stating the Kamloops RCMP submitted in Nov 27, 2020

Dec 9 2021: Prosecution requests Adjournment. Neil Wiberg’s friend passed away and floods washed out roadways and highways to Kamloops.

Dec 13-17 2021: Trial dates adjourned.

Jan 13, 2022: Call in to request an adjournment due to lack of disclosure and COVID restrictions – no adjournment granted.

Jan 17-21 2022: Trial in Kamloops, adjourned on the first day of trial due to April Thomas being sick and unable to attend trial as an agent for several of the co-accused. Also, Romilly Cavanaugh’s mother had suffered a major heart attack and she could not leave Vancouver.

Mar 18 2022: Crown calls for an adjournment due to new disclosure (video/body ca) which must be shared with defendants.

Mar 21-25 2022: Trial dates were adjourned for Miranda Dick, Heather Lamoureaux, Laura Zadorozny and Susan Bibbings.

April 1 2022: Pre-trial Conference scheduled for 9 am.

April 25-29 2022: Trial was adjourned instead we had a Stay of Charges Proceeding which was denied

Oct 3-7th 2022: Oct 15th arrestees trial

Dec 12-16th 2022: Oct 17th arrestees trial

Secwepemc Say No TMX: This group was created to bring voices to Say No to The TMX Trans Mountain Pipeline and for our voices to Be Heard. This affects everyone downstream. Asking Tough questions such as What is in the Impact Benefits Agreement? Who is responsible for cleaning up if and when a spill happens? Accountability and Transparency. Where’s the Deed? Asserting Secwepemc duty to the land and responsibility to Salmon, Clean Water, and our Watershed protection.

Further reading

What youth should know when being called to the frontlines (IndigiNews, March 15, 2022)

Cases involving Trans Mountain protesters to go to trial in January and March (Kamloops This Week, January 6, 2022)

Secwépemc Matriarch cuts off her hair in defense of her lands and waters (APTN, October 24, 2020)

Please join us this Wednesday December 7 at 3 pm ET to hear first-hand from the frontline Colombian environmental defenders who are protecting the vital San Silvestre wetlands outside the city of Barrancabermeja – and risking their lives by doing so.

Yuli Velasquez has experienced three armed attacks against her life – on January 20, 2021, and on June 2 and July 5 of this year.

On July 25, three armed men entered the home of Luidmila Gutiérrez and threatened her while her husband Oswaldo Beltrán was out.

And CREDHOS, the Barrancabermeja-based human rights organization that accompanies these artisanal fishers, has been subjected to numerous threats over the years.

This Wednesday, meet Yuli, Oswaldo and Juan Camilo from CREDHOS as they talk about who is perpetrating this violence against them, why, and the ongoing struggle to defend the wetlands from the Ecopetrol refinery, encroaching agribusiness, landfills that leach into the waters, and the corruption that impedes the clean-up of these waters.

To register for this webinar, click here.

This webinar will take place on the opening day of the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal.

It’s an important time to highlight that wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests and that 35% of the world’s wetland ecosystems have been lost since 1970. Wetlands, lakes and rivers also cover less than 1% of the planet’s total surface but are home to over half of all the world’s fish species.

As such, wetlands are a crucial part of biodiversity.

This webinar is about the guardians of this biodiversity who are being subjected to threats and armed attacks and what we as an international community can do to counter this.

Sign-up now and join us on Wednesday to discuss ways forward.

You can also help us promote this webinar by amplifying our posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Brent at PBI-Canada